INDONESIA: Desperate but Not Serious

In cities throughout Indonesia, housewives
defied a police ban on demonstrations to march on government offices;
in Djakarta, students and trade-union deputations presented petitions
of protest. Reason: within seven days, the price of rice had doubled
and the cost of cooking fuel had shot up 61% as Indonesia's rupiah
plunged unchecked. In less than two months the rupiah (officially 45 to
the dollar) had fallen from 150 to a record low of 500. Adding twirls
to the inflationary spiral were the 2,500,000 Overseas Chinese who have
been banned since Jan. 1 from doing business in rural areas. Packing...